Cast and Crew Celebrate National Achievement

Following the announcement, the show's lead actor, Aras Bulut Iynemli, expressed his exhilaration, stating, “It’s the work of a huge team. We came here as a small group, but I always say it’s a massive team effort. We are here on behalf of all our colleagues.” Director Umut Aral described the experience of representing Türkiye and winning among dozens of countries as an indescribable feeling, accepting the award on behalf of every contributor to the series.

A Showcase for Turkish Production Quality

Produced by the renowned Turkish company Ay Yapim and broadcast on Show TV, "Deha" exemplifies the high production values and compelling storytelling emerging from Türkiye. Screenwriter Damla Serim called the moment “a wonderful feeling,” and a great source of national pride. The series' success at the International Emmys underscores the global reach and competitive quality of Turkish dramas.

The Story of Deha

The award-winning series is a gripping family drama infused with psychological thriller elements. It follows the story of Devran, a young man gifted with extraordinary mathematical abilities, who finds himself torn between his aspirations for a better future and the oppressive control of his father.

Considering the significant portion of the population lacking literacy and limited access to higher education in the country, the studio designs were tailored to meet the needs of distance education requirements.

The project, especially targeted towards rural areas of Afghanistan, aims to enable people to benefit more from education through programs broadcasted on Miraç TV.

The opening ceremony of the project was attended by TİKA Herat Coordinator Arafat Deniz, Miraç TV Channel Manager Habibullah Ferahi, Abdulvahid Behre Cultural Center Manager Veli Şah Behre, and Afghan Education Institute Director Ali Akber Zerrin.

In his speech during the ceremony, TİKA Herat Coordinator Deniz emphasized that education remains a priority in the projects carried out in Afghanistan. He highlighted TİKA's commitment to supporting distance education conditions to address the challenges in the education sector.

Miraç TV Channel Manager Ferahi expressed gratitude to TİKA for their support in providing audio-visual systems and studio designs.

It is expected that the educational programs to be broadcasted on Miraç TV will contribute to reducing illiteracy and addressing the gaps in higher education in Afghanistan. Through such initiatives, TİKA continues to play a crucial role in empowering education and fostering positive change in the region.

The historical buildings built in accordance with authenticity for the shooting of TV series offer fans an opportunity to see the set environment and take them on a historical journey.

The locations of the studio consist of places such as Inegol Castle, Urgenc Market, Marmaracik Castle, Yenisehir Market, Kulucahisar Castle, Harzemshah Palace, Sogut, and Kayi Tribe sections.

Thanks to interactive activities, visitors can experience and learn about history firsthand.

In Kayi Tribe sections, one of the most frequently used locations for TV series Dirilis (Resurrection) Ertugrul and Kurulus Osman, visitors can take photos in traditional Turkish costumes and also engage in activities such as horseback riding, observe the production of Turkish crafts, and examine the daily life of the Kayi people.

Visitors not only get to see the sets of the series they admire but also have the opportunity to meet and chat with the actors.

In the Sogut area, visitors can spend time in areas where they can enjoy traditional juice and coffee, and they can purchase traditional costumes from the souvenir shop.

The studio hosts visitors from many cities in Turkey as well as numerous visitors from the Middle East, Central Asia, Africa, the Balkans, and Latin America.

Speaking to Anadolu, Mehmet Bozdag, the head of the Bozdag Film's board of directors, producer, and screenwriter, stated that he always dreamed of turning the set of the series into a studio and opening it for visits when he started Dirilis Ertugrul.

"We had seen many examples of this abroad. We thought that our stories, which tell the epics of our own history, should also meet with the audience. I believe that the places where the series are shot, the atmosphere, the efforts, and the sets should be seen.

"There has been great interest from visitors since day one. Here, it is not just a studio visit. There are also cultural activities. Our viewers get to see the most important cultural elements of Turkish history. Most of the people who come now are very satisfied,” he said.

Bozdag emphasized that they are working every day to increase the allure of the studio.

"We want to create big, grand shows here in the future. We are working with our team on this. Hopefully, we will accomplish it next year, and starting in April, there will be big shows. We plan to have shows with an audience of 30,000-40,000 people," he said.

"When people hear that we have opened, they come from Africa, Latin America, Central Asia, and Europe with great longing. I thank all our viewers,” he added.

* Writing by Esra Tekin in Istanbul

White was set to celebrate her centennial year on Jan. 17, 2022, as her agent Jeff Witjas told the People magazine in a statement that: "Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever."

Though Witjas confirmed that the famous actress had died, he did not provide the cause and place of her death.

"I don't think Betty ever feared passing because she always wanted to be with her most beloved husband Allen Ludden. She believed she would be with him again," her agent added.

The comedic actress was born in 1922, in Oak Park, Illinois. Her television career began in the late 1930s, according to the website Biography.com.

Hollywood (American), Bollywood (Indian), Nollywood (Nigeria) industries were once the most famous ones in the country. Then competing TV series and soap operas from Latin America and the Philippines became part of the entertainment as well. Now the Turkish historical TV series has struck a chord with Ugandan audiences, giving a tough competition to other genres.

GTV, a private television owned by Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, is broadcasting the Turkish series five times a week.

The comparative popularity of this genre, in the context of Uganda, is that the video jockey (VJ) simultaneously announces the film in local dialects in a hilarious fashion, attracting audiences that cannot speak English or Turkish.

Demand for Turkish products grows

Fatma Abbas, a trader who imports fabric from Turkey, told Anadolu Agency that there is a growing demand for Turkish products, possibly as a result of the popular Turkish series.

“The current problem is that Turkish products are in the high price segment and appeal to high-income groups only. But I believe Ugandan tailors will make a lot of money if they learn to stitch clothes that appear to come from the Ottoman era,” said Abbas.

Turkish fashion retailer LC Waikiki, which debuted in Uganda last year, said it is selling affordable fashion beyond Turkish borders.

Sevda Bilen, LC Waikiki country manager for Uganda, told Anadolu Agency that Turkey manufactures top-quality European products that are sold at cheap prices, promising a further look into the Ugandan concerns.

Sharifah Namutebi, a TV personality working with GTV, said that many people in Uganda were glued to Western movies, which influenced the culture and lifestyle of young people, who were drifted away from the native cultures.

“Young people just accept what the films tell them without questions, many of them dressing in skimpy clothing in imitation of their favorite actors and also glamorizing risky behaviors such as alcoholism, drug abuse, and sexual promiscuity. With the advent of TV programs that don’t inculcate negative foreign cultures, the popular Turkish TV series is destined to great success in Uganda,” said Namutebi, who has been regularly watching Magnificent Century since it started airing in Uganda.

- Inspiration for local cinema

Isa Kigongo, a videographer and producer, told Anadolu Agency that Magnificent Century is an inspiration for the country’s emerging cinema.

“There is a lot to learn from the Turkish series, including the variance of camera angles while filming. This is vital in conveying the overall message of the film and enhancing its overall mood,” Kigongo said.

He added that the steadily growing film industry in Uganda has produced films that achieved worldwide acclaim, such as Queen of Katwe, a drama that shows the scars poverty can leave on humans. “I believe the Turkish TV series will be the next learning point,” he said.

Kigongo also said that developed cinemas like that of Turkey should support emerging cinemas in the development, production, and distribution of their films through initiatives like “cinema funds”.

“Celebrated international cinemas and film festivals give out funds and run mentorship programs aimed at helping independent filmmakers get their projects done. I hope Turkey can do the same,” he added.

Spanish media group, Atresmedia, pioneered bringing the Turkish series to Spain and introduced nearly 20 series to the Spanish audience.

Atresmedia’s Deputy General Manager Jose Antonio Anton told Anadolu Agency that thanks to the Turkish series, a bridge was built between the two cultures.

Anton said the supremacy in the television series industry in Spain, which was in the hands of the Americans in the past, has now been passed to the Turks.

"The impact of Turkish TV series on Spanish society has increased day by day. So much so that Spanish families, who named their children Jonathan when American TV series was influential in Spain, began to name them Mustafa," he said.

What is Fatmagul's Fault? was the first Turkish TV series that was introduced in 2018 to the Spanish audience by the media group, said Anton.

“Over time, we saw that the TV series we broadcast broke rating records. The stories, scenes and acting in Turkish serials were very popular in Spanish society,” he said.

"Turkish TV series has raised the bar in the TV series industry, which was dominated by American, French, British and Latin Americans in the past. Some productions show the modern face of Turkey to Europe and break down the prejudices," he added.

Said to have been discovered in 1959 in Dogubayazit in the Agri province by Ilhan Durupinar, an expert cartographer, the legendary vessel – whose story is told in the Torah, the Bible, and the Quran ­– remains a source of fascination.

The region around Mount Agri – Mount Ararat in English – where the boat is said to have run aground as the flood receded attracts thousands of local and foreign tourists every year, and continues to attract the attention of foreign researchers and documentary filmmakers.

The upcoming History Channel special is being directed by Sait Yardimci, with cinematographer Abdurrahman Itik and cameraman Bulent Kaya.

The film features comments from US researcher Andrew Jones, tourism expert Zafer Onay, and Faruk Kaya, the vice rector of Agri Ibrahim Cecen University.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Yardimci, who also heads the Turkish Film Commission, said that province grew more high profile following the discovery of remains of Noah's Ark.

“When this project is finished, it will play a very important role in promoting Agri,” he said. “We both protect the cultural heritage and contribute to the country's tourism.”

- Over 1B people hoped to see documentary

Calling the History Channel the world’s premier documentary outlet, Yardimci said the Noah’s Ark documentary is expected to be watched by more than 1 billion people around the globe.

“There were local documentaries made about this place before,” he added. “The Turkish Film Commission believes that Turkey is a natural film hub and that much more content should be produced … Because the region we’re in is a place that is both unique and has a lot of history.”

He said that the documentary is expected to come out next summer.

For his part, US researcher Jones said that he first came to the region in 1997 when he was just 20.

“This was my first trip to Turkey,” he said. “And I fell in love with the people, the culture, the history. And since that time I've come back many times in this research for Noah's Ark and brought tour groups here and promoted tourism in the region.”

Pointing to the interest in the region, Jones said: “People are interested in knowing where Noah's Ark is, and according to the holy books in the Bible, the Ark of Noah landed on Mount Ararat.”

The story of the great flood and Noah’s Ark is told in the scriptures of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the three Abrahamic religions.

The song, Who's Gonna End?, released by Erener and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Turkey, issues "an urgent call for everyone to join hands to fight climate change, end poverty, promote equality and protect the planet, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)," said a press release by the UN body.

Its release coincides with the last day of the UN Climate Summit, COP26, which is being held in the Scottish city of Glasgow, with the music video including a cameo by a computer-generated dinosaur delivering the message, "Don't choose extinction," as part of UNDP's global campaign "urging the world to curb carbon emissions before it is too late."

Louisa Vinton, the UNDP Resident Representative in Turkey, said on the song's release that "time is running out to save the planet."

"That is why we are so proud to partner with Sertab Erener to translate our call to action into a song whose idealistic lyrics and compelling beat will bring our message to a new and wider audience with the power to demand change."

"Climate change and the global pandemic are pushing the limits of our planet, and it is always those with the fewest resources who are suffering the worst consequences," Erener said.

She said: "That is why, as an artist, and as a woman, I felt compelled to use music to try to make the world a better place, with justice and equality for all."

The pop star brought to Turkey its only victory in the Eurovision song contest in 2003, with her song Everyway That I Can.

The artist is a long-time social activist as she has supported various campaigns, including rural education in Turkey, improving healthcare for Iraqi children with leukemia, and humanitarian aid for victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami

She released her single Bastirin Kizlar (Go Girls) in 2018, which became a flagship song for gender equality in Turkey. Most recently, Erener lent her support to the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in the country.

The lyrics of the new song incorporates all 17 SDGs that were adopted by all UN member states in 2015, the press release said.

It added: "Although the countries all pledged to achieve the SDGs by 2030, progress has been slow and, in some areas, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused setbacks. In line with the philosophy of the SDGs -- 'to leave no one behind' -- UNDP has been urging countries to redouble their commitments and encouraging individuals to get involved. These themes are captured in the lyrics of the new song, with a chorus that says that responsibility for change lies with all of us."

The new song and music video is available on UNDP Turkey's YouTube channel and on major audio streaming platforms.

The hype surrounding the gruesome show has not yet plateaued, on the contrary, its popularity is through the roof as audiences can't seem to get over the Orwellian masterpiece. 

Written and directed by filmmaker Hwang Dong-hyuk, the nine-episode-long thriller is centered around vast socio-economic inequality, violence, and desperation, concepts most of us can empathize with.

It tells the tale—  or rather, nightmare— of a group of 456 debt-ridden hapless souls, who are lured to a remote island to fight to the death for the chance to score a whopping $38 million. To win this massive prize, contestants need to participate in six matches themed around real-life Korean children's games, such as tug-of-war and marbles. However, the seemingly youthful games contain a gory twist, as the losers get killed by pink-onesie-wearing enforcers, who look oddly like power rangers, and only one player is supposed to be left standing.

Director Hwang Dong-hyuk spent more than ten years trying to develop the story. In a recent interview with CNN, he divulged the details of the addictive survival show’s success and characters.

Squid Game

"This is a story about losers," Hwang said, referring to the everyday life struggle in an atmosphere of neo-liberal late capitalism, in which the “winners” get to “level up.” 

He unveiled that the two main characters, Seong Gi-hun and Cho Sang-woo, are named after his old friends, describing them as his "inner clones." 

“They represent the two sides of me. Like Gi-hun, I was raised by a single mother in a financially troubled environment in Ssangmun-dong. At the same time, like Sang-woo, I went to Seoul National University, and my entire neighborhood praised me and had high expectations of me,”  Hwang concluded.

As the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the growing wealth gap, TV shows and films exploring the meaning of unfairness in the modern world appear to be increasing.

Squid Game fans are waiting for a second season; however, Netflix hasn't yet announced plans to renew the series just yet.

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This year’s ceremony was hosted by Cedric the Entertainer at the L.A. Live’s Event Deck instead of its venue since 2008, the Microsoft Theater, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Around 500 nominees and guests joined the ceremony.

Here are the winners for the 2021 Emmy Awards:

Olivia Colman won for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her performance as Queen Elizabeth in The Crown, while Josh O’Connor received Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his performance as Prince Charles in the same drama series.

The Queen’s Gambit won the Outstanding Limited Or Anthology Series award.

Some of the winners of 2021 are listed below:

Outstanding Drama Series: The Crown.

Outstanding Comedy Series: Ted Lasso.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series: Josh O’Connor, The Crown.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series: Olivia Colman, The Crown.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: Jean Smart, Hacks.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Tobias Menzies, The Crown.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Gillian Anderson, The Crown.

Outstanding Limited Series: The Queen’s Gambit.

"Supported by the Schumacher family, the film charts the German’s rise from his father’s karting track in Kerpen to becoming Formula 1’s most successful ever driver, claiming 91 victories and seven world championships with Benetton and Ferrari," it said in a statement.

The documentary Schumacher, set to be released on Sept.15, features interviews with his family, including his father, wife Corinna, and his two children -- Gina and Formula One racing driver Mick.

The 52-year-old legend was injured in an accident on Dec. 29, 2013, when he went skiing at a ski center in Meribel, the French Alps.

The seven-time F1 world champ is still battling with a severe traumatic brain injury.

Having welcomed the project offer from Pakistan's Ansari amp; Shah Films, producer Emre Konuk, owner of Turkey's Akli Films, announced on Saturday that they have reached an agreement.

"A happy news on a blessed Friday night! Contract signed between Akli Films and Ansariamp;Shah Films about ‘Sultan Selahaddin Ayyubi,’" Konuk tweeted.

He wished that the international, joint project is beneficial "to our country and our art world."

The series, featuring actors from Turkey and Pakistan, will be shot in Turkey and is planned to have three seasons.

Konuk said he was happy to realize the project, despite being aware of the difficulty in portraying "this great person who left his mark in history and all over the world."

Saladin defeated the crusaders and recaptured Jerusalem in 1187.

Tevis was born on Feb. 28, 1928, in San Francisco, California, where he spent the first decade of his life.

At age 10, he was diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease and was placed in the Stanford Children's Patient Care Home, where he would stay for one year.

When he reached 11, he traveled across the country alone by train to his family, who had settled in Kentucky in the southeastern US, known as the Bluegrass State.

While attending Lexington High School, he formed a lifelong friendship with his classmate Toby Kavanaugh.

In a pivotal development for his future, he learned how to play billiards in the game room of the Rhoda Kavanaugh Mansion in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, and was introduced to science fiction books at the local library.

Kavanaugh later owned a pool hall in Lexington, which would influence Tevis' work.

After being drafted by the military at 17, he served in the navy in Okinawa, Japan in the waning days of World War II.

After demobilization, he continued his undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Kentucky, where he took lessons from Pulitzer Prize winner A. B. Guthrie – the novelist, screenwriter, historian, and author of such novels as The Big Sky and The Way West.

As his education continued, Tevis worked in his friend Toby's billiard room. His first billiard room story, The Big Hustle, was published in the popular Collier's magazine in 1955.

After graduation, he taught in small town high schools in various disciplines, from science and English to physical education. He also taught at Northern Kentucky University, the University of Kentucky, and Southern Connecticut State University.

He attended the famed Iowa Writers Workshop, where he earned his master's in creative writing in 1960.

-Short stories and novels

His first published science fiction story, The Ifth of Oofth, went to press in Galaxy Science Fiction in 1957.

He continued to publish short stories in mainstream popular magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post, Esquire, Redbook, Cosmopolitan, and Playboy.

His first novel, The Hustler, was published in 1959 by US publisher Harper amp; Row, now HarperCollins.

It was followed by The Man Who Fell to Earth in 1963.

For the next 14 years, he taught English literature and creative writing at Ohio University, where he produced few works.

In 1978, he moved to New York City, leaving his job to continue writing full-time.

The years since saw him add Mockingbird, The Steps of the Sun, The Queen’s Gambit, and The Color of Money, as well as Far From Home, a short story collection, to his body of work.

The Man Who Fell to Earth was named best science fiction novel in 1963, and in 1980 Tevis’ Mockingbird was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel.

His most popular works have been translated into a score of languages, including Turkish, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Swedish, Greek, Hebrew, Japanese, and German.

- Books become movies, TV series

At least three of Tevis' six novels inspired high-profile movies, including The Hustler, a 1961 hit starring Paul Newman as pool shark “Fast Eddie” Felson, and its sequel the Color of Money with Tom Cruise (1984), and the Man Who Fell to Earth in 1976, starring musician David Bowie.

Decades later, the Queen’s Gambit was adapted for the 2020 Netflix miniseries of the same name – and thanks to the show’s success, is now perhaps his best-known work.

-Female genius in male-dominated world

The Queen's Gambit is a 1983 American novel by Tevis about the life of a female chess prodigy.

It traces Elizabeth (Beth) Harmon's childhood in an orphanage where she struggled with sedatives and alcohol addiction, to her triumphant rise to chess Grand Master, while also trying to survive and rise in a “man’s world,” in which women were not seen as fit to play with men.

Harmon was brought to life by Tevis for the novel, but the author said it was a "gift to intelligent women," including his daughter, Julie, and his aunt.

He said he loved Harmon for her courage and intelligence, adding that in the past many women had to hide their intelligence, but that is thankfully no longer true.

Tevis may not have achieved Beth's chess prowess, but "I played well enough to know what a good game is," he said in an interview.

"I can beat the average person, but I'm afraid of playing with guys who set up playboards” in New York parks, he added.

The Queen's Gambit miniseries made a huge splash on Netflix, racking up at least 62 million people in 28 days worldwide, making it the streaming service’s most-watched miniseries ever.

The series’ worldwide popularity also stoked renewed interest in the game of chess.

-Personal life

In 1963, he married Jamie Griggs, and the couple stayed together for more than 20 years before getting divorced.

A year after their marriage, she bore their son William Thomas and daughter Julia Ann.

He was a frequent smoker, gambler, and alcoholic, and his works often included these vices as central themes.

According to his son, he was "the anti-hero of all his own books.”

Tevis was able to overcome his alcohol habit in the 1970s with the help of Alcoholics Anonymous.

In 1983, he married Eleanora Walker, later the trustee of the Walter Tevis Copyright Trust.

Tevis spent the last years of his life in New York before dying of lung cancer on Aug. 9, 1984, and was buried in Richmond, Kentucky.

All career-climbing Haziran, played by Turan, which translates into June in English, wants is to get a promotion and move to Tokyo, where she will be fenced in by skyscrapers, which is exactly how she likes it. But, in order to do that, she has to find a deal-breaker that will force the handsome but emotionally distant Poyraz to sell his land filled with olive trees, which Haziran’s firm will then raze to the ground for their new holiday resort.

So, our heroine June travels to the Greek island of Alonnisos (but really filmed in Turkey) in the month of June to get what she needs, and then she’ll be on her way.

However, turns out things are not as simple as it seems, and her life turns upside down when she realizes that the aloof young heartthrob is actually a decent guy with a green thumb who cares about the planet. The perfect package right?

Intertwined with family politics and a huge secret combined with the vertiginous influence of passion, this new show will enchant and bewitch you like no other.

In her new series, the 28-year-old Turkish sultan will be sharing the screen with her former co-star Uğur Güneş, a popular actor who rose to fame with his role as Tugtekin Bey in the same smash hit historical drama.

“Today is the first day on the set of Kanunsuz Topraklar,” Bilgic tweeted on Friday to announce the upcoming show.

“Kanunsuz Topraklar,” which translates to “Lawless Lands,” is expected to air in the second half of 2021, according to reports.

Filmed in the Turkish city of Zonguldak, which boasts the largest coal mine located on the western Black Sea coast, the drama is based circa 1940, and centered around the struggles of the ever-elusive love with a backdrop of class barriers.

Gülfem, the character whom Esra Bilgic brings to life, falls in love with Davut, a miner who works at the quarries owned by her wealthy father. 

Fans are waiting on tenterhooks to watch the romance brewing between the two and find out if  love  truly knows no barriers. Stay tuned!

In countries including Brazil, considered the birthplace of telenovelas, characters named Zeynep, Elif and Omer have come to replace names such as Maribel, Esmeralda and Victor Manuel.

MIlagros Perez, a 60-year-old Cuban, has declared herself a “fan” of the Turkish drama genre. She says she watches at least one episode every day but sometimes binge-watches an entire series.

Her love for Turkish melodramas has even crossed over to social media. She founded a fan group on Facebook for Kerem Bürsin, one of the most desired Turkish actors of the moment. The group, created in February, has more than 6,000 followers from various Spanish-speaking countries including Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Spain.

“He is a great actor and human being. He is also handsome and multifaceted. I love him,” said Perez, who claims to have ”lost count” of the number of Turkish TV dramas she has watched.

More than 100 Turkish series are watched by 700 million people in more than 146 countries, Anadolu Agency reported in March.

Several factors are key in driving the growth of Turkish dramas in the region. Among them are the fact that Latin American viewers have a cultural affinity with Turkey and that they are quality productions, experts say.

“Turkish stories revolve around family, which we can relate to because in our culture, we are extremely family oriented,” says Maria Paula Bustamante, programming director of Caracol Televisión, the leading TV network in Colombia, which has aired more than 12 Turkish series.

Some 4 million people in Colombia have watched Turkish productions such as Elif and 1001 Nights. Turkish dizi, or series, have also been a big hit in Argentina and Chile, where viewers can watch up to 10 Turkish TV series a day, some of them during primetime.

“Turkish series are known for their stories of love, heartbreak, revenge and betrayal,” said Bustamante.

Eugenia Velez, vice president of programming for the RCN television channel in Colombia, said these are themes which Latin American viewers identify with.

“They use the same plots that are used in traditional Colombian, Venezuelan and Mexican novels,” Velez said.

She said stories of old-fashioned romance like these make the audience connect well with the characters.

MIlagros Perez is one of the millions of Hispanics who, despite never having been to Turkey, not speaking the language or having eaten its food, feel it is easy to connect with the shows.

“The actors are so convincing. They seem to be living real stories, and we are living that reality with them too. They are beautiful stories that involve real, selfless love,” she said.

Turkish series are also known for having a very high quality, which helps bring Turkey to audiences’ living rooms, said Velez, who is confident that the Turkish adaptation of The Good Doctor, Mucize Doktor, to be aired by RCN soon, will be a hit.

“They are shot in real locations like mansions, palaces, the Bosphorus and the streets of Istanbul. Their natural set is Turkey,” she said.

Bustamante agrees that the aesthetic part is key to their success.

“They have wonderful landscapes, luxurious houses, spectacular costumes... Everything is very majestic and visually appealing.”

Perez said she would love to travel to Turkey to see in real life the scenery she so regularly watches on television.

“I wish I could visit such a magical country,” she added.

Sitting in “Tashahhud,” a prayer position and donning a hijab and an abaya, traditional attire worn by some Muslim women, the 49-year-old actress wished her more than 10 million followers and fans on Instagram a "Happy Sunday."

Her post  generated thousands of comments and likes in less than 24 hours on Sunday.

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"I am still not over your first picture of hijab, and now this," one of  her fans commented with a heart emoji.

"Did you embarce Islam?" and "Are you a Muslim?" were among the questions directed at the actress. 

Many also showered Jada with compliments, hailing her look: “Wow. Stunning,” said Mona Haydar, a Muslim-American rapper.

Four years ago, Jada had denied being affiliated with any religion, underscoring that she practices human kindness.

“I have prayed in mosques all over the world… but I am not a Muslim. I have read the Bhagavad Gita… but I am not a Hindu. I have chanted and meditated in some of the most magnificent temples on earth… but I am not a Buddhist,” she said in an interview in 2017, denying allegations of being a practitioner of scientology.

The discussion – titled '10 Years On: Syrian Refugees in Turkey' – will air at 3 p.m. Turkish time (1200GMT) and will be broadcast live on TRT World Forum’s Instagram account, @trtworldforum.

It will feature Hasiba Ammar, a Syrian physician.

The talk will continue on Friday 5:00 p.m. (2:00GMT) under the title, A Decade of Displacement: Syrian Refugees in Turkey. It will feature Dr. Ulas Sunata, an associate professor of sociology at the Bahcesehir University, who also chairs the BAU Center of Migration and Urban Studies.

Information and updates on the series are available on the following social media accounts: Facebook: @trtworldforum, Twitter: @trtworldforum, YouTube: TRT World Forum.

The TV show was first aired on April 25, 2020.

The people of Pakistan have admired the series greatly to the extent that it was the most-searched item on Google's 2020 search list for film-TV category in Pakistan.

With Resurrection: Ertugrul gaining huge interest across the country, some Pakistani media outlets began to air other Turkish TV series, including Yunus Emre: Askin Yolculugu (Journey of Love) and Kurulus Osman (The Ottoman) that focused on the earliest days of the Ottoman Empire.

Net income rose to almost $1.71 billion, up 140% from $709 million in the first quarter of last year. Revenue increased 24% to $7.16 billion from $5.77 billion during that period.

The number of paid memberships reached 207 million in January-March, which was up 13% from a year ago. Total subscriptions had surpassed the 200-million mark in the last quarter of 2020.

The world's largest movie and series streaming subscription service, however, managed only to add less than 4 million new members in the first three months of this year. This level is significantly down from almost 16 million net additions in first quarter of 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic hit the world and forced quarantines.

"The extraordinary events of Covid-19 led to unprecedented membership growth in 2020, as it pulled forward growth from 2021, and delayed production across every region," the statement said.

"In the short-term, there is some uncertainty from Covid-19; in the long-term, the rise of streaming to replace linear TV around the world is the clear trend in entertainment," it added.

Netflix shares closed Tuesday with a 0.9% decline on the Nasdaq, but its stock price was down 8.3% in limited pre-market trading before US market opening on Wednesday.

From Magnificent Century to Resurrection: Ertuğrul, Turkish blockbusters have glued millions of international audiences to the silver screen, particularly after the 2000s, and it is now the second-highest ranking country exporting television dramas worldwide, after the United States.

The new platform, which started streaming with more than 5,000 hours of content, aims to reach 4,6 billion web users and 5.2 billion mobile phone users by airing content never-before exported.

Fans of the Turkish mega-hits can now watch their favorite TV shows with Spanish and Arabic subtitles. Furthermore, the newly launched digital service is set to dub series into Urdu, Russian and English subs in the near future.

"In addition to its economic contributions to our country, Dramax will be the strongest platform where Turkish culture, geography, tourism, traditions and customs will be introduced," Murat Saygı, the platform's Executive Board Member, told reporters.

In the Swat district of Pakistan, a group of teenagers aged 15-26 is planning to share the series they shoot after the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr on Youtube, with a new name -- Pakistani Ertugrul.

Various items such as swords, axes, and jackets, which they started to produce after inspired by the series, are now for sale in a shop they opened in the city.

The income from the sales is used for costs of shooting the TV show, while they have also received orders from India and Afghanistan.

Muhammed Abbas, a high school student who plays the role of Ertugrul Gazi, said the drama impressed them and so they decided to shoot their own show.

They started making jackets, swords, and axes after watching the series, Abbas said, adding that they then shot some short scenes and got even more enthusiastic and eventually decided to shoot the series.

"We cover all costs ourselves. Most of us are students. We don't have enough money. Not many people make money among us. We don't have sponsors. It would be great if we find a sponsor," he said.

Abbas also said they got a chance to be in contact with Turkish people, and that Celal Al, the Turkish actor playing Abdurrahman Gazi in the series, had also met the young Pakistani actors.

They had a self-learning process in using the camera, as well as writing the scenario and directing, Abbas added.

"This series shows us our own past and glorious history. It gives us hope that if we follow the path of our ancestors we can revive," he said.

The Arabic streaming service, Noor Play, recently signed contracts with producers of new Turkish series viewed by millions, particularly in Arab countries, and obtained the rights to feature them on its platform.

The contract was signed for Establishment: Osman and Mendirman Jaloliddin (Jalaluddin Khwarazm Shah), as well as the movie, The Turks Are Coming: Sword of Justice.

"The contract we signed is a great achievement for our team. We have been working for a long time to be able to present beloved Turkish series to Arab audiences," Abdullah bin Ahmed al-Hashimi, owner of Noor Play, told Anadolu Agency.

"Turkish series are followed with great interest in 146 countries, especially in Arab countries," he said while stressing the international popularity of Turkish productions.

He said the series contributes to the close relations between countries and they would be presented to Arab nations after translations are completed.

Hashimi underlined that after signing the contract with Mehmet Bozdag, the producer of Establishment: Osman, and with the Turkish TV channel ATV about a month ago, the service started to air the series which tells the story of the founding of the Ottoman state by Osman I, the son of Ertugrul Gazi, a critical turning point in Islamic history.

He said Noor Play was also the first platform to air Mendirman Jaloliddin, a Turkish-Uzbek joint production by Bozdag Film, illustrating the life of the Khwarazmian sultan who defeated the Mongols in numerous battles.

The Turks Are Coming: Sword of Justice, tells of the rise of the Ottoman Empire after the conquest of Istanbul by Mehmed the Conqueror, and his orientation toward Rome, which was seen as the capital of Europe in the 15th century.

Noor Play was also the first official platform to present Resurrection: Ertugrul, one of the most popular series in the Arab and Islamic world, to Arab audiences after a contract with the TRT channel.

Stressing that there was a jump in interest in Noor Play after the contract was signed for Establishment: Osman, Hashimi said Noor Play would continue cooperating with Turkish channels to present additional Turkish series to Arab viewers.

Turkish television series is watched by around 700 million people in 146 countries.

The 38-year-old Pakistani actor ignited an Instagram frenzy after sharing a photo in which he posed for the cameras while holding the Kayi flag associated with the Turkish blockbuster Dirilis Ertugrul (Resurrection Ertugrul).

Turkish star Celal Al, best known for playing the character of Abdurrahman Alp in the hit series, has also accompanied Abbas on the trip.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CMJZNBZFV3X/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading

“Thank you @celalall and the producer of KURULUS OSMAN @ozcan_ayma ozcan_ayma for presenting me this handmade flag and showing me around the sets and production of Ertugrul Ghazi and Kurulus Osman in Turkey.” Abbas said in his caption.

The duo, Celal Ay and Imran Abbas, posted many pictures and videos on Instagram, giving fans an insight into their tour around the Turkish metropolitan city of Istanbul.

While traveling around the city in a car, they sang the famous Pakistani patriotic song “Dil Dil Pakistan” together.

Pakistanihunk, Ertugrul star belt out 'Dil Dil Pakistan' in carpool karaoke

Often described as the Turkish Game of Thrones, the series is woven around 13th century Anatolia and tells the story prior to the establishment of the Ottoman Empire. It illustrates the struggle of Ertugrul Gazi, father of the empire's founder.

The series illustrates the struggle of Ertuğrul and his warriors against a plethora of adversaries from the Knights Templar to Mongol invaders.

Ertugrul Gazi surged to fame in Pakistan when Prime Minister Imran Khan endorsed the series and said watching it would promote "Islamic history and ethics" among the country's youth.

Its popularity further increased since the national broadcaster PTV began airing Urdu-dubbed episodes of the show in April.

The series has also inspired Pakistan to erect statues of Ertugrul Ghazi in a residential area of Lahore.

A group of Ertugrul stars— including Esra Bilgiç, Engin Altan Düzyatan and Celal Ay— have signed multiple contracts with local brands, attended charity events and even paid visits to Pakistan to meet their hardcore fans.

Now, it seems we have a Turkish-Pakistani bromance looming as two stars sing their hearts out in a touching duet.

Ertugrul's Abdul Rehman Alp met with Pakistani actor and singer Imran Abbas in the metropolitan Turkish city of Istanbul, and man, did they have a blast.

Video: Pakistani hunk, Ertugrul star belt out 'Dil Dil Pakistan' in carpool karaoke

Taking to his Instagram account, the 38-year-old Pakistani actor shared a video in which he sang the famous Pakistani patriotic song “Dil Dil Pakistan” with Turkish actor Celal Ay in carpool karaoke, reminiscent of British actor James Corden’s sing-alongs with famous celebs.

“May this brotherhood between Pakistan and Turkey stay forever,” Abbas said in his caption.

“Dil Dil Pakistan, Can Can Türkiye (Jaan Jaan Turkey),” Celal Ay commented on the post.

Often described as the Turkish Game of Thrones, the series is woven around 13th century Anatolia and tells the story prior to the establishment of the Ottoman Empire. It illustrates the struggle of Ertugrul Gazi, father of the empire's founder.

The series illustrates the struggle of Ertuğrul and his warriors against a plethora of adversaries from the Knights Templar to Mongol invaders.

Ertugrul Gazi surged to fame in Pakistan when Prime Minister Imran Khan endorsed the series and said watching it would promote "Islamic history and ethics" among the country's youth.

Its popularity further increased since the national broadcaster PTV began airing Urdu-dubbed episodes of the show in April.

The series has also inspired Pakistan to erect statues of Ertugrul Ghazi in a residential area of Lahore.

Now, one special star of the sword-fighting saga, who shot to fame with Ertugrul, was particularly moved when Pakistani children recreated an epic battlefield scene from the smash hit TV series.

Posting the viral video on his Instagram stories, Celal Al, best known for his character of Abdurrahman Alp in the historical Turkish drama, applauded the children, saying: "Mashallah. Pakistani soldiers," according to The News International.

The Turkish actor paid a whirlwind visit to Pakistan in January, stealing the hearts of his fans after he donated blood to children suffering from thalassemia, a blood disease, in Karachi.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CK9UdXHlqBd/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading

Like hundreds of millions of people around the world, the historical drama Resurrection: Ertugrul, more commonly known as the Muslim Game of Thrones, glued Pakistani audiences to their screens.

The series is woven around 13th century Anatolia and tells the story prior to the establishment of the Ottoman Empire. It illustrates the struggle of Ertugrul Gazi, father of the empire's founder, and his warriors against a plethora of adversaries from the Knights Templar to Mongol invaders.

“People are rushing to my shop to get the series in their mobile memory cards instead of demanding songs or other things,” Farhad Hossain, a mobile service shop owner in the southern coastal district of Barguna, told Anadolu Agency.

For Oliur Rahman Oli, a movie freak and an intermediate student of a private college in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka, watching the Turkish serial in Bengali language dubbing is an essential routine. A local private TV network was airing the serial with Bengali dubbing over the past year.

“It was out of my imagination that how a series can be so interesting with great moral lessons and historical background,” said Oli.

After watching seasons one and two, he was impatiently awaiting the TV channel to start airing the rest of the three seasons of the mega-series.

“But it was not possible to keep patience for me to wait. I have enjoyed all episodes of the series through social media platforms, sometimes with Bengali subtitles and sometimes with English subtitles,” he added.

When he visited his relatives in the country’s southern remote area to celebrate Eid al-Adha last year, he carried some episodes of Dirilis Ertugrul in a pen drive.

He gave them to Hossain, who downloaded them in mobile memory cards of customers. It spread in the region like a wildfire, with people lining up at his shop, demanding the Turkish series.

- Learning lessons from Turkish serials

Through different mediums, millions of people from all walks of life are hooked to the Dirilis Ertugrul and appreciating the Turkish history and artistic creativity of the serial.

“I have enjoyed all episodes of Ertugrul with my family members including my two kids and now I am enjoying Kurulus Osman,” said Bangladeshi senior journalist Morshed Alam.

Referring to his long career as a television journalist, Alam said while he has enjoyed many international standard movies and series, the Dirilis Ertugrul is the best.

“Those who wish to make quality movies in terms of developing themes, visuals, dialogues, and other technical materials should learn many lessons from this Turkish series,” he said.

He said while in most of the movies, narrative parts are boring, in the Turkish serial they are even more attractive. He was particularly referring to dialogues between Ertugrul and Ibn al-Arabi.

“How a man should be energized in the most critical moments in domestic life, social life and political life can be found in talks between Ertugrul and Arabi,” he said.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Md. Shah Alam, a teacher at a private university in the country's southwestern district of Khulna, said this Turkish series has lessons for all aspects of life.

“The series teaches how a man can be best in his family as well as in the society and the state,” he said.

He added that the serial also teaches, “how a Muslim should be a good Muslim, a talented Muslim and a revolutionary Muslim”.

“The Turkish series like Dirilis Ertugrul, Kurulus Osman, Uyanis Buyuk Selcuklu, and Yunus Emre should be enjoyed from children to aged people, from ordinary to highly educated people. I am sure all will get pleasure in enjoying those,” he said.

- Turkish envoy visits private TV channel

Turkish Ambassador in Bangladesh Mustafa Osman Turan said that the Turkish TV serials are playing a significant role as a bridge between the people of two fraternal countries.

“People of Bangladesh come to know about the history, culture, and norms of Turkey through these mega serials and thus a cultural bondage is being developed between the people of the two Muslim countries,” he added.

On Tuesday, he visited Bangladesh’s popular private TV channel, Deepto [Enlightened], to exchange views with the management of the channel about the prospects of Turkish TV serials in the country.

Currently, the television channel is airing three Turkish mega serials and the channel. To date, it has aired eight Turkish serials.

“We have a tremendous response from Bangladeshi viewers about Turkish serials in terms of themes, story-making, and other quality works,” Chief Executive Officer of Deepto TV Fuad Chowdhury told Anadolu Agency.

“It is tougher to compete with the western and Indian films and serials for the limited budget local products. Turkish TV serials have become the best alternative for the first time in Bangladesh,” he said.

He informed the Turkish envoy that his channel airs Turkish serials for five hours.

“It is obviously a record that the screen of a private television channel of a country remains engaged with programs of another country," he said.

Citing the enthusiasm Bangladeshi people have shown for the historical Turkish series, Chowdhury said they have planned to purchase the full episodes of Dirilis Ertugrul soon for Bangladeshi viewers in the Bengali language dubbing.

Turan assured to help Bangladeshi people interested to learn Turkish language.

“I am really impressed that here I meet some persons who have learned the Turkish language on their own and are now working at a professional private television channel as translators of Turkish series, “he added.

The world's largest streaming video subscription service added more than 8.5 million subscribers in the October-December period of 2020 to see global streaming paid memberships rise 21.9% from previous quarter to 203.6 million, said the statement released Tuesday.

The company could only add 2.2 million new paid members globally in July-September, while it estimates total membership to reach 209.6 million in the first quarter of 2021.

Although its net income fell 7.6% to $542 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, from $587 million the same period of 2019, the revenue soared 21.4% to $6.64 billion, from $5.47 billion during that period.

Netflix hit the fourth quarter with new content, such as original film "The Midnight Sky", starring and directed by George Clooney, as it estimates 72 million member households will watch it in first four weeks of release. It projects 53 million members to watch "We Can Be Heroes", directed by Robert Rodriguez.

Season four of "The Crown" was watched by more members than each of the prior seasons, which pushed the number of households that viewed the series to over 100 million since its launch, the statement said.

Netflix, however, is not without challenge as the streaming business has been rapidly expanding with major studios and broadcasters entering the market.

Walt Disney announced in December it added 86.8 million subscribers in the first year of Disney streaming service.

In addition to AppleTV , WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, and NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming services, ViacomCBS will soon announce plans to launch Paramount this year.

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday discussed the proposal with leading Turkish director Kemal Tekden and his team, who met with Khan at his office in Islamabad.

Tekden, who directed the popular Turkish TV series Resurrection: Ertugrul, arrived in Pakistan on a five-day visit earlier Thursday.

Khan welcomed the Turkish team and praised their work for producing the historic Ertugrul series, according to the statement.

The two sides also discussed the proposed joint TV series dubbed Turk Lala, which is to highlight the role played by Muslims of the sub-continent during the Balkan War.

Lala, in the Pashto language, refers to "elder brother," and the series would highlight the role of Muslims from the sub-continent who went to Turkey in 1920 and fought against the imperialist forces.

Most of the Muslims who helped the Turkish side travelled from present-day Pakistan under the Khilafat Movement flag -- a campaign to support the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century.

Turkey and Pakistan enjoy historic relations thanks to the help extended during Turkey's War of Liberation.

The meeting was also attended by Information Minister Senator Shibli Faraz, Kashmir Committee Chairman Shehryar Afridi and leading actors from the Turkish and Pakistani film industries.

Afridi briefed the premier on the proposed series and said Turk Lala played an important role in the Khilafat Movement.

He was referring Abdur Rehman Peshawari, who held the distinction of becoming one of the very first reporters of Anadolu Agency when it was founded in the early 1920s.

Born in 1886 in Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, to the wealthy Samdani family, Peshawari abandoned his studies to join the people's mission to help Turkey during the Balkan war.

"This series [Turk Lala] will educate our younger generation about our heroes," Afridi said and highlighted the importance of Turk Lala in Turkey and his role in the Khilafat Movement.

Tekden lauded Khan's move to broadcast Turkish dramas on state-run Pakistani Television.

"Both Prime Minister Khan and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have the same vision that youth could play an important role in the development of any country and they [youth] must be educated about their history and culture," Tekden said.

"We observe June 30 every year as a national day in respect of Turk Lala in Turkey," he added.

Highlighting the proposed series, he said it would create a new chapter in the historic relationship between Pakistan and Turkey and youths of both countries would learn about the historical role of their heroes.

Speaking on the occasion, Khan said: "Ertugrul has gained much popularity in Pakistan because of its story."

He said Pakistani dramas and films were very popular across the world until the 1980s.

"When Muslims were ruling the sub-continent... it was a golden age of our history. But unfortunately, our younger generation do not know about it," Khan said.

He proposed to produce more TV series on that "golden era and also counter the propaganda."

Last month, Khan publicly recommended that people should watch Yunus Emre: Askin Yolculugu to explore their interest in Sufism.

The blockbuster series is being broadcast under the title Raah-e-Isahq, meaning Path to Love, with Urdu dubbing on Pakistan Television, already having attracted a large viewership.

It follows the record-breaking historical drama Resurrection: Ertugrul which has taken Pakistanis by storm.

Already becoming a household name in the South Asian country, Ertugrul has set yet another record as its Urdu YouTube channel last week reached nearly 11 million subscribers.

A Muslim entrepreneur, a self-proclaimed fan of the drama, has now opened up a restaurant called "Ertugrul Mandi" inspired by the historical epic in India's Hyderabad, the capital of the southern state of Telangana.

Galeri: Ertugrul fever sweeps India as restaurant inspired by hit Turkish series opens

The signboard and the interior of the restaurant are decorated with a spate of pictures of the drama's leading actors and actresses, including Engin Altan Düzyatan who stars as the titular character Ertugrul, and Esra Bilgiç who plays Halime Sultan.

The owner, Javid Khan, says that the locals of Hyderabad follow the series religiously, and the area is often frequented by Arab tourists.

Even though the diner's name is inspired by a Turkish show, it does not serve any Turkish cuisine as of yet.

Often described as the Turkish Game of Thrones, the series depicts 13th century Anatolia and tells the story before the establishment of the Ottoman Empire. It illustrates the struggle of Ertugrul Ghazi, father of the empire's first leader.

The record-breaking historical drama has also taken Pakistanis by storm, passing 10 million subscribers on its Urdu YouTube channel.

PTV dubbed the series in Urdu after Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Turkey last year and was informed about the importance of the series.

On April 25, coinciding with the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, PTV aired the first episode of the popular Turkish TV series, highlighting the history of Muslims during the 13th century.

Shortly after the 45-minute long first episode was broadcast, #ErtugrulUrduPTV was trending with viewers welcoming the series as they shared scenes from the first episode on social media.

The Turkish official was chosen to lead the body at its 57th General Assembly, which commenced virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Eren will serve in the capacity until the end of 2023.

With 271 members from 72 countries, ABU is the world’s largest broadcasting union.

TRT’s success and growing influence as a broadcaster in multiple languages played a key role in Eren’s election.

Turkish dramas have been dubbed into dozens of languages and garnered millions of viewers, but no country has gone further than Pakistan in its adoration for the shows, and especially Resurrection: Ertugrul, which promotes the values of Islam, whether it be signing deals with its stars or producing dolls and costumes.

Hence, it comes as no surprise that Google’s annual list of top 10 most-searched people in Pakistan includes a Turkish beauty.

Bombshell actress Esra Bilgiç, who starred as Halime Sultan in the hit TV series Resurrection: Ertugrul, ranked the ninth-most searched personality in Pakistan in 2020.

The Turkish actress won the hearts of millions of Pakistani fans soon after the smash-hit series started airing on PTV with Urdu dubbing.

Take a look at the top trending people searches of 2020 in Pakistan:

1. Marvi Sarmad

2. Uzma Khan

3. Joe Biden

4. Alizeh Shah

5. Hareem Shah

6. Minahil Malik

7. Falak Shabir

8. Asim Azhar

9. Esra Bilgiç

10. Sarah Khan

The 28-year-old beauty signed a slew of deals with famous Pakistani brands, including a mobile company and cricket team, and appeared in several commercial ads in the South Asian country this year.

The annual look-back released by the world’s top search engine also showed that the globally-acclaimed Ertugrul drama outshone the second most-watched Pakistani serial, “Meray Pass Tum Ho,” and topped the list of the most-searched dramas in the country.

Often described as the Turkish Game of Thrones, the series depicts 13th century Anatolia and tells the story before the establishment of the Ottoman Empire. It illustrates the struggle of Ertugrul Gazi, father of the empire's first leader.

Ertugrul Gazi surged to fame in Pakistan when Prime Minister Imran Khan endorsed the series and said watching it would promote "Islamic history and ethics" among the country's youth.

Top Movies & TV

1 Ertugrul

2 Mere Paas Tum Ho

3 Money Heist

4 Bigg Boss 14

5 Mirzapur Season 2

6 Deewangi

7 Mera Dil Mera Dushman

8 Kuruluş: Osman

9 Ehd-e-Wafa

10 Joker

Addressing a press conference in Lahore on Friday, the Turkish actor revealed that he had struck a deal for new projects in Pakistan and was set to become a brand ambassador for a private textile company.

"If you have a good story, why not?" the Turkish actor replied when asked if he would like to star in Pakistani TV series.

Altan also expressed his heartfelt gratitude to Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan due to his praise for the historical drama Diriliş: Ertuğrul.

The 41-year-old actor received a warm welcome from his fans in Lahore where he arrived on Thursday.

“I know Pakistani people love me. I am also aware about the natural beauty of the county,” Altan said.

Often described as the Turkish Game of Thrones, the series is woven around 13th century Anatolia and tells the story prior to the establishment of the Ottoman Empire. It illustrates the struggle of Ertugrul Gazi, father of the empire's founder.

PTV dubbed the series in Urdu after Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Turkey last year and was informed about the importance of the drama.

The series has passed 10 million subscribers on its Urdu YouTube channel, garnering a great interest in Pakistan.

Other Turkish TV series have also become hugely popular in Pakistan.

Turkey, Pakistan and Malaysia agreed in September 2019 to fight the rising global trend of Islamophobia, mainly in the West.

The trio of nations decided to launch a television channel dedicated to confronting the challenges posed by Islamophobia and to produce films on Muslim heroes.

Taking to Twitter on Tuesday, Imran Khan strongly recommended Pakistanis, especially those interested in Sufism, to watch the Turkish drama "Yunus Emre: Aşkin Yolculuğu", the Journey of Love in English, set to be broadcast on PTV.

https://twitter.com/ImranKhanPTI/status/1333766000744001538?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

In mid-November, Faisal Javed Khan, the leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), conveyed insights on the series and Muslim poet Yunus Emre.

“On the directions of PM ImranKhan, yet another hit by @mmehmetbozdag YunusEmre (AşkinYolculuğu) to be telecast on PTV. Yunus Emre (the Dervish) was an Islamic poet, a mystic and a poor villager. Story of a great Sufi wholly dedicated to ALLAH & searching,” the tweet read accompanied by the hashtag #KnowingIslamicHistory.

https://twitter.com/hashtag/KnowingIslamicHistory?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The new TRT1 hit "Yunus Emre" is a Turkish biographical and historical television series created by Mehmet Bozdağ, starring Gökhan Atalay in the titular role.

It centers around the life of Yunus Emre, the 13th century Anatolian Sufi poet, who greatly influenced Anatolian culture.

Turkish series "Resurrection: Ertugrul," often described as the Muslim Game of Thrones, has passed 10 million subscribers on its Urdu YouTube channel, garnering a great interest in the South Asian country.

https://twitter.com/ImranKhanPTI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

PTV dubbed the series in Urdu after Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Turkey last year and was informed about the importance of the drama.

On April 25, coinciding with the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, PTV aired the first episode of the popular Turkish TV series, which highlights the history of Muslims during the 13th century.

A senior reporter for Middle East Eye, Azad Essa, in an article titled "How Ertugrul resurrected the Muslim imagination," discusses the sweeping success and the lure of Turkey's Muslim Game of Thrones.

The five-season-long historical epic has accrued a mass fan base in the Muslim world, particularly in South Asia and the Middle East, as well in South America and parts of southern Africa.

Dirilis: Ertugrul has been licensed for broadcast in 72 countries and translated into English, Russian, Spanish and Arabic. The statistics endorse the epitome of the show's success in the media industry.

"In Gaza, young and old Palestinians rattle off the names of their favorite characters and sing the notes of the show’s theme music. In Pakistan, couples mimic Turkic-styled weddings modeled on the marriage ceremonies from the show," Azad Essa writes.

FROM KASHMIR TO US

The drama's immense popularity has gone beyond television screens, even inspiring parents to name their children after its famous characters.

A couple in Kashmir named their newborn son "Ertuğrul" after the titular character in the historical TV series, the father of the Ottoman Empire's founder.

In the U.S., two fans launched a podcast called "Beywatch" to analyze the show, in turn amassing a large following of their own.

"The show has revived Sogut, known as the first Ottoman capital, as a tourist magnet, and spawned a universe of memorabilia on the internet," the reporter added.

During a trial in New Zealand, Hamimah Tuyan, whose husband Zekeriya was one of 51 killed in the Christchurch mosque terror attacks, described her husband thus: “He was my imam, my bodyguard… my Ertugrul.”

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan, who touted the TV series as a must-watch, said the show displayed Islamic values and carried more cultural and historical weight than "Hollywood and Bollywood" ahead of the debut of the Urdu version of Dirilis: Ertugrul.

Furthermore, the show has passed 10 million subscribers on its Urdu YouTube channel, said TRT World’s news channel director of digital strategy and content.

In neighboring India, Ertugrul proved a more popular search term than film and TV personality Shah Rukh Khan and even Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The series is woven around 13th century Anatolia and tells the story prior to the establishment of the Ottoman Empire. It illustrates the struggle of Ertugrul Ghazi, father of the empire's founder.

According to a tweet by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Faisal Javed Khan, like Resurrection: Ertugrul, the new TRT1 hit Yunus Emre (Aşkın Yolculuğu in Turkish) penned by scenarist Mehmet Bozdağ will also be aired on Pakistan’s PTV.

“On the directions of PM ImranKhan, yet another hit by @mmehmetbozdag YunusEmre (AşkinYolculuğu) to be telecast on PTV. Yunus Emre (the Dervish) was an Islamic poet, a mystic and a poor villager. Story of a great Sufi wholly dedicated to ALLAH & searching,” the tweet read accompanied by the hashtag #KnowingIslamicHistory.

"Yunus Emre: The journey of love" is a Turkish biographical and historical television series created by Mehmet Bozdağ, starring Gökhan Atalay in the titular role.

Video: After 'Ertugrul', new Turkish hit drama to air on Pakistan’s state-run TV

The series premiered on TRT 1 in Turkey in 2015. It centers around the life of Yunus Emre, the 13th century Anatolian Sufi poet, who greatly influenced Anatolian culture.

Resurrection: Ertugrul has passed 10 million subscribers on its Urdu YouTube channel, according to the TRT World news channel’s director of digital strategy and content.

“We've passed 10 million subscribers on our Urdu Ertugrul channel on @YouTube - Thanks to all the fans around the world and to everyone who has contributed to the success. We're just getting started,” Riyaad Minty said on Twitter.

Ertugrul has around 15 million subscribers globally across all languages, with over 3 billion views, Minty noted.

PTV dubbed the series in Urdu after Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Turkey last year and was informed about the importance of the drama.

On April 25, coinciding with the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, PTV aired the first episode of the popular Turkish TV series, which highlights the history of Muslims during the 13th century.

More than 58 million people watched the first episode on PTV's YouTube channel in two months and the entire show has had more than 250 million views in Pakistan.

The TRT Avaz TV channel prepared Bilge Tonyukuk inscriptions as part of events to mark the 1,300th anniversary of the construction of the monuments.

In a statement, the TRT said the documentary, titled Tonyukuk, sought to make better-known Bilge Tonyukuk, an important figure in Turkish history.

It said the documentary included important information on Turkish politics, military structure, law and intellectual life.

Directed by Coskun Oguz, the film was shot in Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Turkey and is based on writings Bilge Tonyukuk himself chiseled onto the standing stones that bear witness to his time in the eighth century.

The inscriptions depict the war strategies of the Turks, their wars for independence and Tonyukuk's struggles for the Turkish nation.

Tonyukuk will be broadcast Thursday at 9.30 p.m. local time [1830 GMT] on TRT Avaz.

Upon Turkey's proposal, UNESCO included the 1,300th anniversary of the construction of the Tonyukuk Monument in its anniversary recommendations list for 2020-2021.

The proposal was backed by Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Uzbekistan.

*Contributions and writing by Sena Guler

“We've passed 10 million subscribers on our Urdu Ertugrul channel on @YouTube - Thanks to all the fans around the world and to everyone who has contributed to the success. We're just getting started,” Riyaad Minty said on Twitter.

Ertugrul has around 15 million subscribers globally across all languages, with over 3 billion views, Minty noted.

TRT is working with state-run Pakistan Television (PTV) to translate and dub the series and make it available to the Urdu-speaking audience in Pakistan and abroad for free.

TRT is focused on ensuring that the dubbed version of the series is uploaded on YouTube so that the show can be viewed internationally by Urdu-speaking audiences around the world.

PTV dubbed the series in Urdu after Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Turkey last year and was informed about the importance of the series.

On April 25, coinciding with the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, PTV aired the first episode of the popular Turkish TV series, which highlights the history of Muslims during the 13th century.

Shortly after the 45-minute long first episode was broadcast, #ErtugrulUrduPTV was trending with viewers welcoming the series as they shared some scenes from the first episode on social media.

Often described as the Turkish Game of Thrones, the series is woven around 13th century Anatolia and tells the story prior to the establishment of the Ottoman Empire. It illustrates the struggle of Ertugrul Gazi, father of the empire's founder.

Other Turkish TV series have also become hugely popular in Pakistan.

Turkey, Pakistan and Malaysia agreed in September 2019 to fight the rising global trend of Islamophobia, mainly in the West.

The trio of nations decided to launch a television channel dedicated to confronting the challenges posed by Islamophobia and to produce films on Muslim heroes.

Focusing on the 1980s, the new season released on Netflix on Sunday, delves into the marriage of Diana and heir to the throne Prince Charles, as well as Diana's struggles with bulimia and both of their affairs.

It is not the first time that Diana's life has been dramatized since her death at age 37 in a Paris car crash in 1997. But the constant revisiting of her story piles on the pressure for William and Harry, whether they watch such shows or not, royal experts say. "After she died, they pleaded with people to let their mother rest in peace because they found it incredibly upsetting," said British royal biographer Penny Junor.

"I think it's been really incredibly hard for them," Junor said. "Maybe they just put the shutters down and they don't watch and they can close their ears to it all, I don't know. But I really feel for them."

Representatives for William and Harry declined to comment on the new season of "The Crown." Harry, who was 12 when she died, said in 2017 that his mother's death had "a quite serious effect on not only my personal life but my work as well."

Diana's life, which she told through unprecedented television interviews and to Andrew Morton for his 1992 biography "Diana: Her True Story," has elements of romance, tragedy, lovers and royalty that make it ripe for being revisited multiple times.

Emma Corrin, 24, the newcomer who plays the young Diana, was not even two years old when the princess died, acknowledged that it was daunting to take on such a beloved figure.

Nick Bullen, editor-in-chief of True Royalty TV, said that for many young people Diana "is a character from history."

But he added, "I wouldn't want to watch my parents' marriage play out on television."

As much as she enjoys "The Crown," Junor has reservations about the show's seamless blend of factual events and imagination.

"I think it's brilliant drama, but it is drama, and my greatest fear has always been that people would come to view it as fact (and that) in the future it will be seen as a historical record of these years, and it's not," she said.

Bullen said shows like "The Crown" lead to increased interest and research in the British royal family.

"I think that will be even more the case in this season because the (Diana) story is so readily available," he said.

Thatcher enters the Netflix television series portraying the British royal family as it moves into the 1980s, when the polarizing Conservative Party leader was at the height of her power.

Anderson said she used no prosthetics, not even teeth, but relied on body language and vocal idiosyncrasies to capture Thatcher's appearance.

"It came down to holding my mouth in the right way," Anderson said. "Then she had very specific mannerisms in terms of how she cocks her head, and how she leans forward.

"You start putting those things together and at some point you end up in the realm of Margaret Thatcher," said Anderson.

Thatcher was Britain's first female prime minister and her 11-year-term in office was the longest of the 20th century. She died aged 87 in 2013.

The new season of "The Crown," released on Netflix on Sunday, covers the escalation of conflict in Northern Ireland and the Falklands War. It will also portray the unhappy marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, who will be played by Emma Corrin.

Anderson said the first time she ran into Corrin, when both actors were in full costume, "was kind of like a Madame Tussauds moment."

Anderson, who grew up in both Britain and the United States and is best known for television's "The X Files," had plenty of material to work with to capture Thatcher.

"A lot of people have played her to acclaim before, so that's always a bit daunting," she said, referring to the likes of Meryl Streep, an Oscar winner for "The Iron Lady."

"Also she's certainly quite a character and people had very strong opinions about her either way. There is so much richness of character and history that as an actor you can bite into," Anderson said.

Three in particular have captured their special attention as they have broken rating records across the Santorini of Africa.

According to Maroc Metri, a company that records ratings and views, Turkish TV series The Oath (Söz), which stars dreamboat Tolga Saritas and aired in Turkey between 2017 and 2019 managed to rank number one on Moroccan state TV “Channel 2” during the first three weeks of October.

Black and White Love (Siyah Beyaz Aşk) claimed second prize on the list and For My Son (Oğlum İçin) ranked fifth on the viewer records of the same channel.

The Oath was watched by 7 million 155 thousand people; Black and White Love was watched by 5 million 400 thousand people; and For My Son (Oğlum İçin) glued 5 million 200 thousand people to their TV screens in just one day.

Moroccans have also raved about Turkish TV series such as Forgive Me (Beni Affet), Gümüş and Under the Linden Trees (Ihlamurlar Altında) which were previously broadcasted in the country.

However, even though she is the sibling of Ertugrul Ghazi’s arch nemesis and a spy in the show, she has revealed she’s also a fierce advocate for human rights as she thanked Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan for voicing firm support to Baku amid the ongoing military conflict with Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

“I want to thank the Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan for the support that he has been extending to my country Azerbaijan. I am generally someone who doesn’t pay attention to politics but the ongoing war in the Nagorno-Karabakh region is very painful and I am hoping that we get justice soon. I am not someone who likes war but there are times when there is so much injustice that there can’t be any peace,” Nagiyeva said during an online interview in which she related her experience in the Turkish TV series to Dawn Images on Monday.

Sharing her childhood memories, Nagiyeva said she was constantly worried for her father and grandfather who were both involved in the military.

Drawing comparisons between herself and Alangoya, the 38-year-old actress said, “At that young age, I hated how the Armenians were massacring my people. But we can either choose to live in a state of war or make peace and I have always preferred to be peaceful. Alangoya, on the other hand, chose war. I don’t know what her childhood was like.”

Fresh clashes erupted on Sept. 27 between Baku and Yerevan, and Armenia has since continued its attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces, even violating humanitarian cease-fire agreements.

In two attacks on Ganja, a major Azerbaijani city far from the front line, Armenian missiles killed two dozen civilians, including children, and injured scores of others.

Last week, Armenia targeted civilians visiting a graveyard in the western city of Terter, killing four and injuring as many.

A second cease-fire went into effect Oct. 17 after the Oct. 10 truce -- meant to allow an exchange of prisoners and the recovery of bodies -- was breached by Armenia.

I WOULD LOVE TO VISIT PAKISTAN

Nagiyeva also expressed her astonishment regarding the immense popularity of the historical show sweeping Pakistan.

“My agent called me and asked me if I knew that people were searching my name in Pakistan. I was surprised. Why would they be searching my name there?” she said, expressing her desire to visit the South Asian country in the future.

I would love to visit Pakistan, she says, adding: “Earlier, my knowledge of Pakistan was restricted to what I knew from Wikipedia; that Pakistan and Azerbaijan supported each other, the capital was Islamabad and the languages spoken were Urdu and English. Now, however, I want to know so much more about this country.”

Often described as the Turkish Game of Thrones, Resurrection: Ertugrul depicts the 13th century Anatolia and tells the story before the establishment of the Ottoman Empire. It illustrates the struggle of Ertugrul Ghazi, father of the empire's first leader.

According to the state-run Pakistan Television (PTV), 133.38 million people have so far watched the drama series from April 25- May 14. Also, its episodes are trending on YouTube in Pakistan every day.

In just 20 days, since the series with Urdu dubbing started riding on the airwaves, PTV’s YouTube channel has registered exponential rise in its viewership with 2.1 million subscribers, shattering all previous records.

The thriller about a young, naive woman who marries an older aristocrat but finds herself in the shadow of his late wife, Rebecca, was an Oscar best picture winner for director Alfred Hitchcock in 1940, starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine. But the ending of the book was changed.

The new film, directed by Ben Wheatley and starring Lily James, Armie Hammer and Kristin Scott Thomas, will be released on Netflix on Wednesday.

“I went back to it and kind of re-read it and realized that this is the first script for a feature version of the book that had all the plot in it. Before, there had been things taken out and major story points which had been removed," Wheatley said.

James, who plays the young woman, said the novel was packed with themes including male-female power dynamics as well as "obsession and jealousy and the patriarchy and everything within a very addictive, commercial, gothic horror thriller romance."

Scott Thomas, a longtime fan of the book, said she was thrilled to be cast as the manipulative housekeeper Mrs. Danvers, played in the 1940 version by Judith Anderson.

“I reveled in creating her, in creating the image and in the sort of construction of her. But actually doing it, actually being her when they say ‘Action’ and having to be so beastly, it’s actually quite hard,” she said.

"I think people love those sort of stories where something suddenly appears incredibly realistic and true and you can really identify with it and then suddenly it sort of slips into something a bit more of a fantasy,” Scott Thomas said

The 44-year-old shared images of the national flags of Turkey and Azerbaijan and wrote, “Happy 29th anniversary of Independence, beloved Azerbaijan,” expressing solidarity with Baku in its fight for territorial integrity.

Border clashes broke out on Sept. 27, when Armenian forces targeted Azerbaijani civilian settlements and military positions, leading to casualties.

Relations between the two ex-Soviet republics have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Upper Karabakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh, an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan.

On Oct. 10, Baku and Yerevan agreed to a cease-fire starting midday to allow a prisoner exchange and the retrieval of bodies in Upper Karabakh.

Before 24 hours passed over the agreement, the Armenian army carried out a missile attack on the city of Ganja in Azerbaijan, killing 10 people and injuring 35 others.

A second ceasefire was agreed on Saturday after the deal brokered by Russia a week earlier failed to halt the worst fighting in the South Caucasus since the 1990s. More than 1,000 people have been killed since fighting began on Sept. 27

Users now receive an advisory about stereotypes when they play films such as Dumbo, Peter Pan, Aristocats, and Swiss Family Robinson on the Disney streaming service.

"This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures," the advisory reads. "These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now."

"Rather than remove this content, we want to acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together," it adds.

The Aristocats received the warning as the cat in the show is depicted as a "racist caricature of East Asian peoples with exaggerated stereotypical traits," while the Peter Pan has it for portraying native people in a "stereotypical manner" and referring them by "redskins".

Dumbo also carries a warning due to the show which "ridiculed enslaved Africans."

Disney's previous and shorter disclaimer was saying: "This program is presented as originally created. It may contain outdated cultural depictions."

The video in question, which Düzyatan posted to his Instagram story, shows the star in full-action mode, firing his gun multiple times at target practice.

The video was accompanied with the caption: “Tactical shooting,” leaving fans to speculate about the nature of his next role as they impatiently await his return to the small screen.

Often described as the Turkish Game of Thrones, Resurrection: Ertugrul depicts the 13th century Anatolia and tells the story before the establishment of the Ottoman Empire. It illustrates the struggle of Ertugrul Ghazi, father of the empire's first leader.

Turkey is one of the top five series-exporting countries in the world, enthralling audiences from Latin America to Central Asia.

Dozens of Turkish series are being followed by more than 500 million viewers in over 150 countries, according to Turkey's Culture Ministry.

Resurrection: Ertugrul has attracted particular acclaim with viewers from over 70 countries.

Known abroad as “Love Is in the Air,” Sen Çal Kapımı, which literally translates to “You Knock on My Door” started airing in early July and instead of being just a “summer fling,” it managed to maintain its high ratings and is now set to continue in the fall too.

In this whirlwind romance we are introduced to Eda Yildiz, a florist whose scholarship, little did she know, was retracted in her final year of university by none-other than our man in waiting Serkan Bolat.

Eda is brought to life by Turkish beauty Hande Erçel, who has been called one of the world’s most beautiful women, with Serkan being played by star Kerem Bursin.

The two meet by chance at Eda’s university where she calls out Serkan, who is a successful architect and ginger dreamboat, for retracting her scholarship to go study in Italy and ruin her life.

Funnily enough, Eda handcuffs Sertan to herself as she keys his car and vandalizes it with her lipstick, throwing the two into the beginning of what is set to become a hilarious yet bittersweet romance.

However, in a cruel twist of fate Eda finds herself engaged to Serkan by episode 2.

Armed with loyal friends and family members, the two must navigate their way around their self-made quagmire.

Entertaining more than 700 million audience from Europe, Middle East, Central Asia, Africa, and the U.S. so far, Turkey is expected to earn $1 billion in TV series exports by 2023.

As of 2018, Turkey’s revenue from TV series exports amounted to $500 million.

The 31-year-old Turkish beauty has lately been sharing her stunning photos in which she wears traditional and heavily embellished bridal dresses for Pakistani designer Ali Zeeshan.

The actress looked breathtaking in metallic jewelry, a nose piercing and gorgeous henna patterns on her hands.

"I love this makeup," she said on Instagram, posting a photo in which she sports a smokey eye paired with a matte red lip.

If you are a bride-to-be and looking for tips for the big day, Kıratlı's latest posts might give you some make-up ideas and styling tips.

Often described as the Turkish Game of Thrones, the hit TV series 'Resurrection: Ertuğrul depicts the 13th century Anatolia and tells the story before the establishment of the Ottoman Empire. It illustrates the struggle of Ertugrul Gazi, father of the empire's first leader.

In just 20 days, since the series with Urdu dubbing started riding on the airwaves, PTV’s YouTube channel has registered exponential rise in its viewership with 2.1 million subscribers, shattering all previous records.

The 27-year-old bombshell, better known by her screen name Halime Sultan, has most recently signed with one of Pakistan’s top fashion retail brands "Khaadi."

Taking to her Instagram account, Bilgiç shared a photo from the shoot with 4.5 million of her followers.

She selected a plain black Pakistani outfit combined with a gorgeous flower braid hairstyle as her fans flooded the post with thousands of likes and comments.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGCd5R1DIok/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading

“Heres a bucket full of love from Pakistan❤️❤️,” said one user.

The deal comes after a similar agreement between a leading Pakistani fashion retail brand and two Turkish actors from the globally-acclaimed drama, Cengiz Coşkun and Nurettin Sönmez, who play Turgut Alp and Bamsi Alp on the show.

Often described as the Muslim Game of Thrones, the series is woven around 13th century Anatolia and tells the story prior to the establishment of the Ottoman Empire. It illustrates the struggle of Ertugrul Gazi, father of the empire's founder.

The series illustrates the struggle of Ertuğrul and his warriors against a plethora of adversaries from the Knights Templar to Mongol invaders.

The credit partially goes to a small group of dedicated translators who toil day and night to render Turkish into vivid Arabic, which is then used in dubbing.

Ali Mahmoud Al Suleiman, a young Syrian-Turk living in Lebanon, is a member of this elite group.

The 24-year-old began translating Turkish productions into the Arabic tongue three years ago.

"I translated many Turkish dramas, with the most famous ones being Resurrection: Ertugrul, and Payitaht Abdulhamid," Suleiman told Anadolu Agency, referring to popular Ottoman historical dramas.

Turkish series have achieved remarkable success over the past decade in scores of far-flung countries in the Middle East, Latin America, and South Asia.

The most popular of these is Ertugrul, which is aired in more than 100 countries and has entranced more than a billion viewers.

-Amateur goes pro

Suleiman, who was born in Istanbul to a Turkish mother and Syrian father, first translated his favorite shows into Arabic without charge, as he wanted his Arab friends and family to enjoy them as much as he did.

But now he does the job professionally. He works for the Turkish Embassy in Lebanon as a translator, is affiliated with an online entertainment portal, and also writes columns.

"I translate Turkish series into Arabic, especially the historical ones, because there are things that bring Arabs and Turks together such as religion and culture," he said.

"I see Turkey as my second country and love it. I encourage people to visit this beautiful country."

He added: "Turkey has always chosen the side of truth and justice by standing with the oppressed, especially the Palestinian cause and the Syrian revolution in 2011."

Suleiman lived in both Damascus, Syria and Tripoli, Lebanon for school before returning to Istanbul, a city he hails as “the meeting point of cultures and civilizations," to study Turkish literature.

"I encourage human bonds between Arabs and Turks, have many Turkish friends whom I love, and they love me," he said.

Suleiman fears bans on Turkish dramas in a few Arab countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia due to ongoing political tensions, but says that would not necessarily keep Arab fans from watching Turkish productions.

Even where there is official censorship, "there are portals where Turkish dramas can be accessed," he explained.

Posting a video to share his experiences with fans on his official Instagram account, Siddiqui said: "Ertuğrul, the chieftain of Kayi tribe, the man who championed the cause of Islam, wished for a prosperous and safe state for Muslims and non-Muslims alike and whose regime was based on the tenets of justice and fair play."

The 50-year-old actor underlined that his expectation was to see a grand mausoleum but instead he was humbled by the beauty and simplicity of the tomb.

"Multiple thoughts crisscrossed my mind as I took in the beauty and the simplicity of the mausoleum. I had expected a grand monument to celebrate the great Ertuğrul, man of commanding authority, and a greater legacy. And here was a tomb that spoke volumes of the chief’s life but didn’t need to rely on grandiosity. Humbled," he said.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CF4ibUOHD3g/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading

Earlier this week, Siddiqui announced that he had a meeting with the “maker” of the smash hit Turkish historical drama Resurrection: Ertugrul in Istanbul, hinting at glad tidings.

The story of Ertugrul Ghazi has claimed global praise with the emergence of the TV series.

Often described as the Turkish Game of Thrones, the series depicts the 13th century Anatolia and tells the story before the establishment of the Ottoman Empire. It illustrates the struggle of Ertugrul Gazi, father of the empire's first leader.

The series furthermore illustrates the struggle of Ertuğrul and his warriors against a plethora of adversaries from the Knights Templar to Mongol invaders.

According to the state-run Pakistan Television (PTV), 133.38 million people have so far watched the drama series from April 25- May 14. Also, its episodes are trending on YouTube in Pakistan every day.

In just 20 days, since the series with Urdu dubbing started riding on the airwaves, PTV’s YouTube channel has registered exponential rise in its viewership with 2.1 million subscribers, shattering all previous records.

One of the latest deals struck between Turkish celebrities and Pakistani companies includes not only one but two Ertugrul dreamboats.

A leading fashion retail brand in Pakistan, J. Junaid Jamshed (J.), signed an agreement with Cengiz Coşkun and Nurettin Sönmez, who played the roles of Turgut Alp and Bamsi Alp, in the globally-acclaimed drama.

"J. is proud to announce the signing of two beloved International Turkish stars from the famous series Ertugrul, Cengiz Coşkun and Nurettin Sönmez, as J. Fragrance brand ambassadors. This partnership is J.’s newest International signing.," the Pakistani company announced on Facebook on Monday.

Facebook Embed Migrated From Frola

The post, which included shots of the two actors posing in front of the national flags of Turkey and Pakistan, quickly captured the attention of hundred of thousands of fans.

"Congratulations, glad to see both of my favorite actors in J.," a Facebook user commented on the post.

Ertugrul Ghazi's bombshell actress Esra Bilgiç, who plays Halime Hatun, signed a deal with Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Peshawar Zalmi and has also been collaborating with Pakistani mobile company Jazz.

Video: Ertuğrul's Turgut Alp thrilled to collaborate with Pakistani brand

The series depicts 13th century Anatolia and tells the story before the establishment of the Ottoman Empire. It illustrates the struggle of Ertugrul Gazi, father of the empire's first leader.

State-run Pakistan Television (PTV) launched the first episode of the show on April 25, the first day of the holy month of Ramadan. The series was dubbed in the Urdu language at the instructions of Prime Minister Imran Khan, who had expressed interest in the series last year during his tour to Turkey.

After hitting home screens in Urdu, enthralling viewers with its depiction of Islam, Ertugrul Ghazi, the Muslim Oghuz Turk leader who stole the hearts of millions across the world, will now speak Azeri on state TV.

AZTV said that work has begun for the dubbing of the 150-episode drama, which started airing in 2014 all the way up to 2019; and following the completion the TV show will glue its Azeri audience to their screens five days of the week.

The series depicts 13th century Anatolia and tells the story before the establishment of the Ottoman Empire. It illustrates the struggle of Ertugrul Gazi, father of the empire's first leader.

State-run Pakistan Television (PTV) launched the first episode of the show on April 25, the first day of the holy month of Ramadan. The series was dubbed in the Urdu language at the instructions of Prime Minister Imran Khan, who had expressed interest in the series last year during his tour to Turkey.

"Thanks to PM @ImranKhanPTI for arranging this #ErtugrulUrduPTV #Ertugral gives a source of Motivation & Inspiration to learn & Implement the core Islamic values, it boosts the moral that we can overcome any challenges by our strong will, faith & with help of Allah,” wrote a Twitter user engineer Salman Ahmad Khan.

According to the state-run Pakistan Television (PTV), 133.38 million people watched the drama series from just April 25- May 14. Also, its episodes are trending on YouTube in Pakistan every day.

In just 20 days, since the series with Urdu dubbing started riding on the airwaves, PTV’s YouTube channel has registered exponential rise its viewership with 2.1 million subscribers, shattering all previous records.

Last September, Turkey, Pakistan, and Malaysia had agreed to combat the rising global trend of Islamophobia, mainly in the West. They had decided to launch a television channel dedicated to confronting challenges posed by Islamophobia and to produce films on Muslim heroes.

Now, after closing the curtains on Ertugrul, which was branded as the Muslim Game of Thrones and lasted for five season, the cable network is now telling the tale of a true story, which is well on its way in conquering the hearts of viewers around the globe.

The psychological thriller "Masumlar Apartmanı," which translates to “The Apartment of Innocents,” was adapted from a book written by Turkish psychiatrist Gülseren Budayıcıoğlu.

The show made its debut on Sept. 15, 2020 and is climbing to the top as the second episode garnered great success on Tuesday, smashing nationwide viewership records this season.

Video: Based on a true story, Turkey launches ‘Apartment of Innocents’ after Ertugrul success

Directed by Çağrı Lostuvalı, the production stars Farah Zeynep Abdullah, Birkan Sokullu, Ezgi Mola and Merve Dizdar in the leading roles.

The show is centered around the lives of Han and İnci, who form a romantic bond after getting involved in a car accident.

Inci, whom Farah Zeynep Abdullah brings to life, is a young woman who lives with her over-bearing grandfather and brother; while Han, portrayed by Birkan Sokullu, struggles with his two obsessive sisters.

Will Han pursue his own happiness for the first time in his life rather than becoming the victim of his obsessive family after meeting İnci? Stay tuned.